Good morning fitties! It’s a gloomy day here on the central coast of California but I loooooove it. My favorite days are foggy and chilly <3. So yesterday I told you I started BBG again and let me tell you, the workout kicked my ass but in the best way possible. Legs + Cardio for Week 1 is comprised of squat jumps, walking lunges with weight and the infamous burpee. But I loved it (okay and hated it a little). I loved it because I knew I was working hard and challenging myself. No matter how many times I restart BBG I am always challenged by the exercises. Even if I notice I’m better at them and stronger, I’m always challenged. That’s the great thing about body-weight exercises and jump/power moves because they kick your ass every time.

So my journey with BBG has been a good one but not a great one. I bought it at the end of November 2014 (almost a year ago) but didn’t start the workouts until about January 2015. Why did I wait almost 2 months to start? I was scared as hell haha. I looked through the workouts and saw my old foe (burpees) and the fact that it was 12 weeks of burpees and squat jumps and things that were outside of my comfort zone scared me too. But I started it and boy did it kick my ass hard in the beginning. But guess what? It worked. By Week 5 I could do 10 burpees without stopping and I no longer hated them.

One thing I have always loved about my body is my arms. I started weight lifting with my mom around 8th grade and if you could see her arms you’d know why she’s my bicep goals. So throughout high school and most of college my triceps were tight, my biceps weren’t too defined but strong and my shoulders had a toned roundness to them. But, when I had my mini down spiral in February 2014 my arms got “sloppy”. So I was determined (and still am) to get my arms better than ever before. So you could imagine my joy when after the first 5 weeks of BBG I saw crazy good progress in my arms. Here’s my initial 5 week BBG arm progress!

I know the lighting is different but look at that difference! I was stoked. However, that’s where I fell off plan. I got lazy, tired, sick, bored, etc etc and I stopped doing BBG. I also went to Prague with some friends for my Spring Break in March so I again got backtracked on my BBG. However, I started back up again in April when I got home from break and hit it hard. I made it to Week 6 and felt a little more accomplished that I’d made it halfway. But I let myself get in the way of finishing BBG once again. I honestly can’t remember why I stopped but I guessing it had to do with lack of motivation, laziness, lack of energy, finals, etc etc. Here is a little progress picture from after Summer 2014 when I tried to undo the damage my mini depression had done to my body and then the second start of BBG and the 6 week “finish”.

Now there isn’t much difference between these photos. However, I definitely felt my stomach and waist tightening and my legs getting stronger. My progress was little but it was progress none-the-less. Keep in mind that the weight difference between these is pretty much nothing. I actually weighed less in the first photo (153 lbs) and weighed around 157 lbs in the last photo (I’m 5’6″). So there’s another example about how the scale is pretty much an evil liar and measurements and photos are the key to determining your progress.

So this round of BBG is going to be much different because I’m doing it with my roommate. Not only will this be an extra push for me when I’m feeling unmotivated, but it’ll also give me an outlet to talk about my struggles, goals, etc with someone besides my keyboard. I made my roommate make a set of goals and objectives with me as well as Do’s and Don’ts for these 12 weeks. Here are mine…

I’m really excited to see what these next 12 weeks will bring. I know there will be ups and downs but that’s what makes the journey worthwhile. ❤ Happy Saturday luvs.